Women met in Jepson Alumni Center for new opportunities.

The Richmond MBA collaborated with the Virginia Council of CEOs this month to jumpstart career conversations for women in RVA.

Future-Proofing Your Career, held at the Jepson Alumni Center, hosted more than a hundred women in the RVA business community for open conversations about their careers.

“To know that others are going through similar situations, to have someone give you ideas to help you solve them that you didn’t think of, was just amazing,” said Dina Hagerich, director of global staffing for Owens and Minor.

She, along with about a dozen other women hosted discussions on everything from work-life balance to challenging projects, discussing options to ensure their career would never be in jeopardy.

“It was a refreshing experience to learn about all these diverse women and their backgrounds, and they’ve been able to help me,” said Alex Garcia, engineer at Dominion Energy.

Organizers followed the Virginia Council of CEOs roundtable format to encourage authentic connections.

Debbie Fisher, associate director of The Richmond MBA, was one of the masterminds behind the event.

“We wanted to create a program focused on women, and on work and life issues facing women in the workplace today. We also wanted an event where business women could connect and have meaningful dialogue around a topic we are all interested in,” Fisher said. “We in The Richmond MBA thought who better to partner with to create this program than the strong women CEOs in the Virginia Council of CEOs. This was a wonderful opportunity for these two groups to come together to support women in the RVA business community. When we bring together women with varied experiences, backgrounds, and beliefs; and we have open, honest dialogue, we all succeed in achieving our mutual goals.”

She, along with Amber Answine, GB’18, chair of the women’s committee for Richmond MBA students, worked closely to make sure the unique event resonated with the women in attendance.

“We had a really interesting conversation about amplifying other women, and backing them up in the business world,” Answine said. “I hope this event can help increase awareness for the need for RVA women to come together to have these conversations.”

The event also featured Lyn McDermid, CIO and director of Federal Reserve Information Technology, as keynote speaker, as well as roundtable facilitators from a wide range of professions and experience levels.

“This was the event of the year for women in Richmond,” said Lisa Schaffner, public relations and marketing director for the United Network for Organ Sharing. “This was fabulous for networking and just talking about being a woman and being a professional here in the metro Richmond area.”